SATURDAY, 15 JANUARY 2011APP STORE: a lesson in hindsight?It is Interesting to read in several sources that Microsoft is opposing the US trade mark application for APP STORE filed by Apple in 2008 (see for example Geek.com). The basis for the opposition is that the mark is allegedly generic. The BBC report is a bit more garbled, as it wonders why Microsoft is opposing now, a year after advertisement -- but a quick look at the USPTO database explains that they got an extension to oppose and filed the opposition in June 2010 and it is only coming to the public attention now, since a motion for summary judgment was filed a few days ago.

This highlights for me the issue of using hindsight in oppositions - it is difficult to cast your mind back to 2008 and remember how the mark would have been viewed then, when it has become so popular and successful in the meantime.